ספר הישר

OR

THE BOOK OF JASHER.

THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF MAN WHOM GOD CREATED UPON THE EARTH ON THE DAY WHEN THE LORD GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH.

CHAPTER I.

the Lord God said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

7. And the Lord God took Adam and his wife, and he placed them in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it; and he commanded them and said unto them, from every tree

1. And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and God created man in his own image. 2. And God formed man from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became of the garden you may eat, but from a living soul endowed with speech. the tree of the knowledge of good 3. And the Lord said it is not and evil you shall not eat, for in the good for man to be alone; I will day that you eat thereof you shall make unto him a helpmate. surely die.

4. And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took away one of his ribs, and he built flesh upon it and formed it and brought it to Adam, and Adam awoke from his sleep, and behold a woman was standing before him.

5. And he said, this is a bone of my bones and it shall be called woman, for this has been taken from man; and Adam called her name Eve, for she was the mother of all living.

8. And when God had blessed and commanded them he went from them, and Adam and his wife dwelt in the garden according to the command which the Lord had commanded them.

9. And the serpent, which God had created with them in the earth, came to them to incite them to transgress the command of God which he had commanded them.

10. And the serpent enticed and persuaded the woman to eat from 6. And God blessed them and the tree of knowledge, and the wocalled their names Adam and Eve in man hearkened to the voice of the the day that he created them, and serpent, and she transgressed the

ate.

word of God, and took from the tree | 17. And in some time after, Cain of the knowledge of good and evil and Abel his brother went one day and she ate, and she took from it into the field to do their work; and and gave also to her husband and he they were both in the field, Cain tilling and ploughing his ground, 11. And Adam and his wife trans- and Abel feeding his flock; and the gressed the command of God which flock passed that part which Cain he commanded them, and God knew had ploughed in the ground, and it it, and his anger was kindled against sorely grieved Cain on this account. them and he cursed them.

12. And the Lord God drove them that day from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken, and they went and dwelt at the east of the garden of Eden; and Adam knew his wife Eve and she bore two sons and three daughters.

13. And she called the name of the first born Cain, saying, I have obtained a man from the Lord, and the name of the other she called Abel, for she said, in vanity we came into the earth and in vanity we shall be taken from it.

18. And Cain approached his brother Abel in anger, and he said unto him, what is there between me and thee that thou comest to dwell and bring thy flock to feed in my land?

19. And Abel answered his brother Cain and said unto him, what is there between me and thee, that thou shalt eat the flesh of my flock and clothe thyself with their wool?

20. And now therefore, put off the wool of my sheep with which thou hast clothed thyself, and recompense me for their fruit and flesh which thou hast eaten, and when 14. And the boys grew up and thou shalt have done this, I will then their father gave them a possession go from thy land as thou hast said? in the land; and Cain was a tiller 21. And Cain said to his brother of the ground, and Abel a keeper of Abel, surely if I slay thee this day, sheep. who will require thy blood from me?

15. And it was at the expiration 22. And Abel answered Cain, of a few years, that they brought an saying, surely God who has made us approximating offering to the Lord, in the earth, he will avenge my cause, and Cain brought from the fruit of and he will require my blood from the ground, and Abel brought from thee shouldst thou slay me, for the the firstlings of his flock from the fat Lord is the judge and arbiter, and it thereof, and God turned and inclined is he who will requite man according to Abel and his offering, and a fire to his evil, and the wicked man accame down from the Lord from cording to the wickedness that he heaven and consumed it. may do upon earth.

16. And unto Cain and his offer- 23. And now, if thou shouldst ing the Lord did not turn, and he slay me here, surely God knoweth did not incline to it, for he had thy secret views, and will judge thee brought from the inferior fruit of the for the evil which thou didst declare ground before the Lord, and Cain to do unto me this day.

was jealous against his brother Abel 24. And when Cain heard the on account of this, and he sought a words which Abel his brother had pretext to slay him. spoken, behold the anger of Cain

was kindled against his brother Abel and wandering in the earth until the for declaring this thing.

day of thy death.

33. And at that time Cain went out from the presence of the Lord from the place where he was, and he went moving andt wandering in the land towards the east of Eden, he

25. And Cain hastened and rose up, and took the iron part of his ploughing instrument, with which he suddenly smote his brother and he slew him, and Cain spilt the blood of his brother Abel upon the earth, and all belonging to him. and the blood of Abel streamed upon 34. And Cain knew his wife in the earth before the flock.

26. And after this Cain repented having slain his brother, and he was sadly grieved, and he wept over him and it vexed him exceedingly.

27. And Cain rose up and dug a hole in the field, wherein he put his brother's body, and he turned the dust over it.

28. And the Lord knew what Cain had done to his brother, and the Lord appeared to Cain and said unto him, where is Abel thy brother that was with thee?

29. And Cain dissembled, and said, I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said. unto him, what hast thou done ? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground where thou hast slain him.

30. For thou hast slain thy brother and hast dissembled before me, and didst imagine in thy heart that I saw thee not, nor knew all thy actions.

those days, and she conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Enoch, saying, in that time the Lord began to give him rest and quiet in the earth.

35. And at that time Cain also began to build a city and he built the city and he called the name of the city Enoch, according to the name of his son; for in those days the Lord had given him rest upon the earth, and he did not move about and wander as in the beginning.

36. And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad begat Mechuyael and Mechuyael begat Methusael.

CHAPTER II.

1. And it was in the hundred and thirtieth year of the life of Adam upon the earth, that he again knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare a son in his likeness and in his image, and she called his name Seth, saying, because God has appointed

* Although we find in the 34th and 35th verses that God gave him rest, it might only have

31. But thou didst this thing and didst slay thy brother for naught and because he spoke rightly to thee, and now, therefore, cursed be thou from been a temporary rest; and as we are neither the ground which opened its mouth told in scripture nor in this book anything more to receive thy brother's blood from relating to Cain, we cannot infer anything conthy hand, and wherein thou didst trary to this declaration. bury him.

+ There is no mention made of the land of Nod; the word here used is the partici

ple present of the verb 1 to wander; the last letter of those verbs whose two final letters are similar, is sometimes dropped, and it might have

32. And it shall be when thou shalt till it, it shall no more give thee its strength as in the beginning, for thorns and thistles shall the ground scripture a without the vau, which is frequentbeen with one daleth, like the word used in produce, and thou shalt be movingly omitted.

me another seed in the place of Abel, for Cain has slain him.

2. And Seth lived one hundred and five years, and he begat a son; and Seth called the name of his son Enosh, saying, because in that time the sons of men began to multiply, and to afflict their souls and hearts by transgressing and rebelling against God.

3. And it was in the days of Enosh that the sons of men continued to rebel and transgress against God, to increase the anger of the Lord against the sons of men.

the days of Adam was this declaration concerning the earth, of the curse of God, which he cursed the earth, on account of the sin which Adam sinned before the Lord.

9. And it was when men continued to rebel and transgress against God, and to corrupt their ways, that the earth also became corrupt.

10. And Enosh lived ninety years and he begat Cainan ;

11. And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all 4. And the sons of men went and the sons of men, and he led the sons they served other Gods, and they of men to wisdom and knowledge; forgot the Lord who had created for Cainan was a very wise man and them in the earth and in those days had understanding in all wisdom, the sons of men made images of brass and with his wisdom he ruled over and iron, wood and stone, and they spirits and dæmons; bowed down and served them.

5. And every man made his God and they bowed down to them, and the sons of men forsook the Lord all the days of Enosh and his children; and the anger of the Lord was kin dled on account of their works and abominations which they did in the earth.

12. And Cainan knew by his wisdom that God would destroy the sons of men for having sinned upon earth, and that the Lord would in the latter days bring upon them the waters of the flood.

13. And in those days Cainan wrote upon tablets of stone, what was to take place in time to come, and he put them in his treasures.

6. And the Lord caused the waters of the river Gihon to overwhelm 14. And Cainan reigned over the them, and he destroyed and consu- whole earth, and he turned some of med them, and he destroyed the third the sons of men to the service of part of the earth; and notwithstand-God.

ing this, the sons of men did not turn 15. And when Cainan was sevfrom their evil ways, and their hands enty years old, he begat three sons were yet extended to do evil in the and two daughters.

sight of the Lord.

16. And these are the names of 7. And in those days there was the children of Cainan; the name of neither sowing nor reaping in the the first born Mahlallel, the second earth; and there was no food for the Enan, and the third Mered, and their sons of men and the famine was very sisters were Adah and Zillah; these great in those days. are the five children of Cainan that were born to him.

8. And the seed which they sowed in those days in the ground became thorns, thistles and briers; for from

17. And Lamech, the son of Methusael, became related to Cainan by

marriage, and he took his two daugh-vanced in years, and his eyes were ters for his wives, and Adah con- dim that he could not see, and Tubal ceived and bare a son to Lamech, Cain, his son, was leading him, and and she called his name Jabal.

19. For in those days the sons of men began to trespass against God, and to transgress the commandments which he had commanded to Adam, to be fruitful and multiply in the earth. 20. And some of the sons of men caused their wives to drink a draught that would render them barren, in 28. And the arrows entered Cain's order that they might retain their body although he was distant from figures and whereby their beautiful them, and he fell to the ground and appearance might not fade.